by
A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Graduation Requirements
Advisor: Colonel Thomas Bruno
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this academic research paper are those of
the author and do not
reflect the official policy or position of the US government, the
Department of Defense, or Air
University. In accordance with Air Force Instruction 51-303, it is
not copyrighted, but is the
property of the United States government.
Biography
Lieutenant Colonel Stacey L. Taylor is a student at the Air War
College, Air University,
Maxwell AFB, AL. A career Marine Corps manpower officer, LtCol
Taylor has served as a
Marine Division Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1, a mentor to
the Afghan National Army
G-1, and as a Personnel Observer / Trainer with the Joint Staff
J-7. He commanded the
Headquarters and Support Battalion at the School of Infantry, East
in Camp Lejeune, North
Carolina. A graduate of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA, he
earned his commission
through the Morehouse NROTC program and earned his Master’s Degree
in Business
Administration from the Florida State University.
Abstract
Three generations of Marines now serve in the Marine Corps,
including Baby Boomers,
Generation Xers, and Millennials. Each generation has unique
characteristics that influence
how they prefer to lead and be led. Marines of the millennial
generation are vastly different from
their predecessors. They have a tendency to question the status quo
and put less priority on
careers while seeking a balance of work, family, and personal time.
Millennials are also
characterized as energetic, enthusiastic, and creative, all
positive attributes needed to keep the
Marine Corps relevant in the future. With these characteristics,
Millennials may be viewed as
both high-maintenance and high-performance individuals.1 This poses
challenges to the Baby
Boomers and Generation Xers who are responsible for shaping
Millennials to be the Corps’
upcoming senior leaders. With the proper leadership, Millennials’
unique qualities can be
harnessed to build an effective and committed workforce for the
future of the Marine Corps.2
Table of Contents
Idealized Influence
....................................................................................................................................
9
Inspirational Motivation
..........................................................................................................................
10
Intellectual Stimulation
...........................................................................................................................
11
Individualized consideration
...................................................................................................................
12
By many accounts, Millennials are unlike preceding generations.
Their unique view of
the world leads to misunderstandings among the different
generations in today’s workforce.3
The generations preceding the Millennials are a more rugged,
individualistic group who believe
in a command-and-control management approach. Baby Boomers and
Generation Xers value
working individually, view managers as experts, and look to their
employers for career planning.
In comparison to Millennials, they also like to establish clear
boundaries and possess an inward-
looking perspective. These characteristics are understandable as
Baby Boomers and Generation
Xers grew up during a time when conducting research required a trip
to the library and a stroll
through the index card file. In contrast, Millennials represent
continuous learners, collaborators,
optimistic, achievement-oriented, socially conscious and highly
educated individuals who grew
up with technology.4
The Marine Corps’ personnel encompasses Baby Boomers, Generation
Xers and
Millennials, characterized by their unique generational traits.
More importantly, Millennials
make up the majority of the Marine Corps’ junior to mid-grade
personnel and provide the bulk of
its fighting force. This enigmatic group of young people will
emerge as senior commanders and
policy makers responsible for shaping the future Marine Corps.
Hence, there is a need for
Marine leaders to better understand Millennials and adapt current
leadership styles to better
engage them.5
inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and
individualized consideration-will aid
Marine Corps leaders in dealing with the millennial generation in
the workplace. Marine Corps
leaders will be better able to imbue Marines of the millennial
generation with the honor, courage,
2
and commitment needed to serve the American people, protect
enduring national interests, and
fulfill the nation’s military responsibilities with the application
of transformational leadership.
As described by leadership theorist Peter G. Northouse,
transformational leadership is a
process in which a person engages with others and creates a
connection that raises the level of
motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower.6
Transformational leadership
changes and transforms people because it aids leaders in
understanding individual emotions,
values, and ethics, establishing standards, and achieving long-term
goals. It also includes
assessing follower’s motives, satisfying their needs, and treating
them as full human beings, not
simply workers. When incorporating charismatic and visionary
leadership, transformational
leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves
followers to accomplish more
than what is usually expected of them.7 Each of the components of
transformational leadership
helps build follower commitment in different ways.8
This paper will first describe the characteristics of each
generation represented in the
Marine Corps. It will then highlight the challenges associated with
leading multiple generations
of Marines serving in the Corps. Next, this paper will explain how
leaders can employ the
elements of transformational leadership to instill members of the
millennial generation with the
DNA expected of Marines while taking advantage of their
generational characteristics. Lastly, it
offers a counterargument to the author’s thesis.
Generations
In order to overcome the challenges of leading multiple generations
of Marines, leaders
must first understand generational characteristics. Leaders must
grasp generational
demographics, the events that shaped their lives, their work
styles, and the key messages to keep
in mind when developing and motivating these members of the
workforce.9
3
Baby Boomers
The Baby Boomer generation represents individuals born during or
after World War II
between 1943 and 1960,10 Baby Boomers represent an older generation
and have tremendous
influence in the workplace. As America was one of the few developed
nations not destroyed by
war, Baby Boomers experienced a period of high prosperity unlike
any other generation in
American history. Anyone seeking work could find a job, enabling
them to have a comfortable
middle class existence because of the conversion of wartime
factories to peacetime
manufacturing. While the rest of the developed world made attempts
to recover and rebuild,
American businesses enjoyed a period of growth based on the
purchases by Europeans and
Japanese as they sought to rebuild. This period of affluence and
privilege influenced how Baby
Boomers saw America and life in general; especially, in the
workplace. 11
In the workplace Baby Boomers are extremely hardworking, loyal, and
motivated by
position, perks and prestige. They relish long work weeks and
define themselves by their
professional accomplishments. Since Baby Boomers sacrificed a great
deal to get where they are
in their careers, this workaholic generation believes that younger
generations should pay their
dues and conform to a culture of overwork. Baby Boomers also
criticize Generation X and
Millennials for a lack of work ethic and commitment to the
workplace.
Confident, independent and self-reliant, Baby Boomers grew up in an
era of reform and
believe they can change the world. Questioning established
authority systems and challenging
the status quo, this generation is not afraid of confrontation and
will not hesitate to challenge
established practices. They welcome exciting, demanding projects
and strive to “make a
difference.” Yet, Baby Boomers equate work and position with
self-worth and introduce
competition to the workplace. They are clever, resourceful and
strive to win. Baby Boomers
4
believe in hierarchal structure and rankism and may have a hard
time adjusting to workplace
flexibility trends. This career focused generation believes in
"face time" at the office and may
fault younger generations for working remotely; which distinguishes
them from Generation
Xers.12
Generation X
Raised in two income families, as latchkey kids, or as children of
divorce, Generation
Xers became resourceful, independent, and self-sufficient.13 Born
between 1960 and 1980,14
Generation Xers arrived during the greatest anti-child phase in
modern American history
underscored by legalized abortion, the invention of birth control,
working mothers, and absent
fathers.15 The divorce rates in the United States more than doubled
from the late 1960s to the
early 1970s and the number of working mothers in the workforce
doubled between 1969 and
1996. Consequently, working single moms headed many households
causing approximately 40
percent of Generation Xers to return home from school to empty
houses. Many children
experienced a childhood and youth marked by a lack of supervision
with excessive household
and family responsibilities. The lack of coddling in childhood
created a later generation of
parents who coddle their kids’ every whim, often described as
over-parenting or “helicopter
parents.”16
Several events that occurred during the formative and adolescent
years of Generation
Xers caused them to become cynical, distrusting authority and large
institutions like
corporations, religious organizations, and the government. Some of
these events included the
Iran-Contra affair, Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, Space
Shuttle Challenger tragedy,
widespread layoffs of the 1980s, the “dot com” boom and bust of the
1990s, corporate greed, and
5
the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. The recent great recession around
2008 underscored and
validated that cynicism as Generation X led the Occupy Wall Street
movement.17
Although Generation X is a highly-educated generation of Americans
compared to
previous generations, many Generation Xers struggled to find jobs
after college. This experience
helped nurture their entrepreneurial spirit including the famous
entrepreneurs who founded
Google, Twitter and Amazon. Generation Xers value work-life balance
because they know “the
job you sacrifice everything for” may disappear tomorrow. Unlike
previous generations, they
work to live, rather than live to work. As they entered the work
force, America shifted from a
manufacturing economy to a service economy. Along with the
difficult economic times of the
1980s, this shift caused the parents of Generation Xers to lose
their jobs. As a result, Generation
Xers frequently change jobs to get ahead and limit their commitment
to any one employer.18
They do not see the need to give their all to a job that may go
away while losing their family in
the process. The result is a group of independent workers who
possess the knowledge, skills,
and abilities to get the job done along with making time to coach
sports in the fall, winter, and
spring and serve as Boy Scout troop leaders to the next
generation.19
Millennials
Millennials, born between 1980 and 2000,20 emerged as the focus
returned to children
and family. Brought into being in the days of reliable birth
control, legalized abortion, and a
cultural shift toward parenthood, Millennials are the most wanted
generation of children in
American history.21 Unlike their predecessors, Generation Xers who
represented latchkey kids,
children of divorce, and kids with two working parents, the
upbringing of Millennials consisted
of “helicopter parents” who hovered over them their entire lives.
Their parents made themselves
available to save the day when they ran into problems. Parents
micromanaged Millennials
6
dates. Millennials enjoyed very little unstructured time while the
parents shuttled them from
one activity to the next. Parents have advocated for this
generation more than ever before;
challenging poor grades, negotiating with sports coaches, visiting
college campuses to argue on
behalf of their child, and attending military recruiting interviews
with their Millennial.22
Many “-isms” like: terrorism, heroism, patriotism, and globalism
aid in shaping
Millennials.23 Acts of terror headlined the news during their most
formative years including the
bombing of the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, the
Columbine High School and
other school shootings, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack
in the United States. Out of
these first two –isms, Millennials observed the re-emergence of the
American hero, policemen,
firemen, mayors, and military members, and heard the word “hero”
repeated more than it had
been in the prior 10 years. The attacks brought back the patriotism
that dissipated from the
Boomer and Xer generations. Stores could not keep flags on the
shelf because they sold out
quickly as Americans displayed them on their homes and cars.
College students also took a
greater interest in politics--patriotism was back.24
The message delivered to Millennials differed from Generation Xers
and Baby Boomers.
They learned the importance of a good education and were told they
were special. In order to
ensure their child made significant achievements, some parents
searched for the right preschool
before their birth; while others hired private agents to find the
right college. Television
emphasized this idea through programs like Nickelodeon and
advertisements like Baby Gap and
Sports Illustrated for Kids. In contrast to Boomers and Xers, the
upbringing of Millennials
included more tolerance of other races, religions, and sexual
orientations while being
interdependent on family, friends, and teachers.25
7
The Challenge
Why do generational traits and characteristics matter to the Corps?
With three
generations of Marines serving in the Corps, the values, ambitions,
views, and mindsets of each
cohort can conflict, causing challenges for the leader/follower
relationship. The three
generations - Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials - possess
unique work ethics,
perspectives on work, and preferred ways of leading and being led.
At no previous time in our
history have various generations, with such differences and
diversity, worked together.26 The
sounds of generations in conflict are heard in dining facilities,
barracks, professional military
education sessions, and hallway conversations. In their book,
Generations at Work…,
generation expert Claire Raines and coauthors Zemke and Filipczak
provide several cliché
examples…
“They have no work ethic. They’re just a bunch of slackers.”
“So I told my boss, ‘If you’re looking for loyalty, buy a
dog.’”
“In the old Corps, a Marine would not fathom to question his
leader!”
“I have a new rule. I will not attend meetings that start after
1700. I have a life.”
“If I hear ‘We tried that in ’87’ one more time, I’ll hurl in his
wrinkly, old face.”27
Few Americans understand their own generation in context, so
managing or leading this
mélange of ages, faces, values, and views generates difficult duty
for Marine leaders.28 In the
times of uncertainty and anxiety, Marine leaders experience the
world and the military’s role in
it; generational differences are tension producing and are
potential pressure points. These
leaders increasingly live and work in a world of diminishing
commonalities in values, where the
interdependent and virtual nature of the work force often depends
on collaboration and
compromise. An explicit need exists for understanding and
overcoming generational and
8
communication differences to create positive ends for the Marine
Corps and the Marines who
serve in it.29
Members of the millennial generation joined the Boomer and Xer
generations now
serving in the Marine Corps. They bring a unique set of
expectations and attitudes related to
serving in the Corps. Some experts concluded that leading
millennials represents more
leadership challenges than previous generations. Beyond an
expectation for a life/work balance,
Millennials bring to the job other attitudes – viewpoints
constructed through environmental
observations – the product of profound societal and technological
influences.30 The Marine
Corps must recognize these attitudes and address concerns through a
contemporary and
institutionalized leadership model, if the Marine Corps is to imbue
this contingent of young men
and women with the values of honor, courage, and commitment
expected of all Marines.31
Robert Wendover, Director of The Center for Generational Studies,
says millennials
came of age in an era of mass media, technology, and convenience
which had a significant
impact on their perceptions toward the workplace. He asserts that
societal and political
influences, such as corporate and political malfeasance,
downsizings, and layoffs taught
millennials to challenge the system, doubt the judgment of leaders,
and not feel obligated to any
one job. Furthermore, the strong technological influences and
availability of cell phones,
Personal Data Assistants, and computers created a “point-and-click,
menu driven” mentality in
Millennials. Mr. Wendover asserts that these influences contributed
to Millennials needing a
much higher degree of direction, structure, and stimulating work
environment than previous
generations.32 More than ever, leaders need to model ethical and
appropriate work behavior, be
very specific in their directions, tell millennials why they are
doing what they are doing and how
they are doing while keeping them busy. This interaction translates
into more personalized
9
attention and feedback to millennial Marines when compared to
previous generations.33 In order
to meet this challenge, Marines leaders should employ the elements
of transformational
leadership.
One factor of transformational leadership is idealized influence
which describes leaders
who act as strong role models for followers.34 This factor is a
value-based element that leads to
emotional bonds between leaders and followers who transcend their
self-interests because of
their belief in a collective purpose. Such transcendence results
from the followers’ identification
and internalization of the vision and values of the leader. A
charismatic relationship cultivates
trust, respect, admiration and commitment to the leader and the
future of the organization.35
Leadership experts, Bass and Riggio, declare that leaders who
behave consistently with
the values they espouse can more easily build commitment to a group
or organization’s values,
goals, or standards of behavior.36 For example, an article printed
in the Military Times
described how Marine General Joseph Dunford, while serving as the
Commander of the
International Security Assistance Force modeled the behavior
expected of his subordinates. By
being inclusive, connecting with his subordinates, and not
accepting the status quo, General
Dunford made a lasting impression on his command. His team noticed
that every time he visited
the Afghanistan presidential palace, General Dunford changed out of
his combat uniform into his
full-dress uniform, demonstrating respect for the Afghan government
and people that he wanted
to permeate throughout his command. Every Marine leader should
adhere to the idealized
influence factor of transformational leadership in order to mold
the Corps’ Millennials into what
we need them to be which coincides with inspirational
motivation.37
10
characteristics of inspirational motivation include optimistically
and enthusiastically articulating
a clear and appealing view of the future while expressing
confidence, encouraging team work
and inspiring high standards of performance.38 Transformational
leaders elevate people from
low levels of need (focused on survival) by appealing toward their
inborn desire to attain higher
levels (related to love, learning, and leaving a legacy and the
like).39 Leaders can accomplish
this through motivational speeches, highlighting positive outcomes,
and appealing to their
followers' own interests.40
According to Bass and Riggio,41 leaders use inspirational
motivation to build emotional
commitment to a mission or goal. The transformational leader
encourages values, beliefs, and
responsibilities while simultaneously arousing physical and
emotional excitation. He or she also
aims to inspire followers to consider the moral values involved in
their duties as members of
their unit, organization, and profession.42 For example, during the
Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
preached the vision of America through his speeches and writings,
thereby mobilizing the North
to end slavery and preserve the Union.43 Raised with structured
schedules, hovering parents, and
hands-on teachers, Millennials seek a vision and a plan to achieve
goals. Similarly, Marine
leaders should provide a vision with an execution plan and ensure
Millennials understand how
their jobs fit into that vision. They should also provide direction
and close oversight, and give
feedback so Millennials understand how their actions support a
given purpose, which
demonstrate key aspects of intellectual stimulation.44
11
Another element of transformational leadership is intellectual
stimulation which leaders
use to get followers to reexamine assumptions, seek different
perspectives, and encourage
nontraditional thinking. Intellectual stimulation includes
leadership that stimulates followers to
be creative and innovative and to challenge their own beliefs and
values as well as those of the
leader and the organization.45 In order to raise followers’
awareness of problems as well as
develop their capability to solve such problems, transformational
leaders foster a climate that
favors critical examination of commonly held notions, beliefs, and
the status quo. They also
create an environment conducive to sharing knowledge, heightening
sensitivity to environmental
changes, and empowerment by imposing the leader's idea only in the
absence of viable ideas
from the followers.46 Such leadership behavior encourages followers
to think for themselves,
reengineer work processes and be more creative.47
By employing intellectual stimulation, the transformational leader
further increases his
followers’ commitment. The leader enlists the education, concerns,
and experiences of the
follower in a joint effort to deal with problems in a creative way.
Unusual approaches can
emerge. For example, a U.S. Army noncommissioned officer in World
War II, when challenged
with a mobility problem, figured out how to quickly convert tanks
into bulldozers to cut through
the Normandy hedgerows, and was empowered by his leadership to
convert the tanks.48 Carol
Axten, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland,
acknowledged that Millennials are tech
savvy gurus who can process information on the internet with
lightning speed.49 Whereas
previous generations would have to read a manual to play a never
before played video game, a
Millennial could take it out of the box and operate it immediately.
The Millennial generation
developed electronic intuition and an eagerness to embrace
opportunities to innovate. The
12
transformational leader will provide the environment for them to be
creative, realizing that
because of their lack of experience, Millennials will make
mistakes. The willingness of the
millennial generation to test the limits requires leaders who will
allow them to take risks. This
generation must learn how to take calculated risks and how to learn
from their mistakes.50 Like
the transformational leader, Marine leaders should use honest
mistakes as teachable moments to
further develop Millennials while encouraging future initiative,
one of the core values expected
of Marines.
Individualized consideration
leadership. The transformational leader treats each follower as a
“whole” individual rather than
as an employee, and considers the individual’s talents and levels
of knowledge to decide what
suits him or her to reach higher levels of attainment. A
transformational leader applies
individual considerations by listening to each follower’s needs and
concerns, expressing words
of thanks or praise as a means of motivation, making public
recognition of achievements and
initiatives, and undertaking individualized career counseling and
mentoring. Transformational
leaders treat others as individuals with different needs,
abilities, and aspirations and get them to
appreciate the benefits of diversity. They also help others develop
their knowledge, skills and
abilities. As a result, followers began to value personal learning
and development and may
appreciate the breadth of knowledge, skills, and abilities
associated with collaborating within a
diverse team.51
Bass and Riggio state that individualized consideration enhances
commitment as
followers feel their personal career needs are being met.52 The
coaching and mentoring
provided by their leaders instill in them a sense of increased
competence to carry out orders.
13
Through individualized consideration, the transformational leader
meets the Millennials’ needs
of wanting to be heard and to receive feedback. Raised to be
confident and to share their
feelings and ideas, they tend to be outspoken. Leaders should not
underestimate Millennials’
ability to acquire knowledge based on experience because they can
prove very knowledgeable as
a result of Internet surfing and an expanded social network.53
Secretary of State Colin Powell’s
guidance to his new staff at the State Department is an example of
this leadership, one that
leaders of Marines should emulate. According to the book,
Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell,
he told them: “You will find an open style, you will find me
bouncing in, you will find me
wanting to talk to the field officers. I want to hear the rough
edges of all arguments. I don’t
want to concur things to death and coordinate things to death so I
get a round pebble instead of a
stone that has edges on it. I want to hear from you, I want to get
all the great ideas that exist
throughout the Department.”54
Counterargument
In her article titled “Millennials Bring a New Mentality: Does it
Fit?” in the U.S. Naval
Institute’s Proceedings magazine, Commander Darcie Cunningham, U.S.
Coast Guard, poses the
question: “how can [Millennials] acclimate to the highly
traditional, structured U.S. military?”
She begins by noting several behaviors that are supposedly unique
to Millennials: that they
“posture to work only the bare minimum number of hours required;”
that their customs and
courtesies are eroding;” that “there are an increased number of
negative confrontations between
very junior members and senior leadership;” and that “texting is
becoming the primary mode of
communication and used to jump the chain of command.” She then
offers that Millennials need
to be educated, course corrected, and evaluated on whether they
will “truly be able to adapt to
14
the service.” The author’s solution to acclimating Millennials
mirrors the transactional
leadership style best known by the generations previous to
Millennials.55
According to Bass and Riggio, transactional leaders are those who
lead through social
exchange.56 Transactional leadership, therefore, focuses on
leaders’ and followers’ self-interests
and involves an exchange in which followers work to receive
benefits or to avoid penalty or
punishment.57 A transactional leader influences subordinates
through a quid pro quo exchange,
such as the below example:
Contingent reward: the leader uses rewards or incentives to achieve
results when
[Marines] meet expectations such as a unit training holiday for no
DUIs during a defined
period of time.58
Passive management by exception: the leader uses correction or
punishment as a response
to [Marines’] unacceptable performance or deviation from accepted
standards
Active management by exception: the leader actively monitors
subordinates’ work and
uses corrective methods to ensure that the work meets accepted
standards
The transactional style of leadership, or the “do it because I said
so” model, focuses on the
present. The core of transactional leadership is to get things done
in the short term. However, it
does not focus on building lasting bonds between the leader and his
followers. For example, in
the Vietnam War, when the Marine Corps assigned replacements to the
front lines to strengthen
combat units, unit leaders were often compelled to use
transactional leadership because of
limited time and resource pressures of battle. However, the goal of
Marine Corps leadership is to
create bonds between Marines with the strength to motivate them
even when the leader is not
present. In order to build the kind of lasting bonds that enhance
the commitment we seek in our
15
Marines, specifically our Millennials, we will need to apply a
higher order of leadership:
transformational leadership.
Rebuttal
US Army Brigadier General James Schwitters, Commander of US Army
Training Center
in Fort Jackson asserts that fear and intimidation used during
training is no longer as effective as
it once was.59 Millennials do not respond to shouting and offensive
treatment but connect with
those that lead by example and respect those who have earned it.
Unlike before, their intolerance
of hierarchy means that authority is no longer synonymous with
respect. Commanders should be
more authentic and approachable, yet not overly soft-hearted.
Commanders must also prepare to
give rationales behind their decisions, be fluid, open to
questions, and cognizant not to
misinterpret inquisitiveness as a challenge to authority.
Carol Axten points out that Millennials want to be heard.60 Their
upbringing altered the
way Millennials relate to authority. Being more educated than their
predecessors, they want to
know the reason and intent of an instruction before carrying it
out. Education taught them to
think rationally and independently. Thus, the traditional “do as I
say” is not effective. They
symbolize a byproduct of an education where teachers were more
lenient towards their students
in an effort to encourage creativity and curiosity. Additionally,
the parents of Millennials often
pampered and sheltered them, provided more attentive to their
needs, and encouraged them to
raise questions every time they were in doubt. This upbringing
makes them more apt to question
authority and more intolerant of traditional hierarchical
structures. They prefer communicating
through interactivity rather than the authoritative command and
control communication styles
typical of a military organization.
16
According to Axten, leaders need to express the desire for openness
and an acceptance of
opposing opinions. Marine leaders should not assume that
Millennials are questioning authority
but embrace their unique characteristics of curiosity, increased
adaptiveness, and sometimes
unrealistic expectations. Suspending judgment about Millennials’
curiosity and not viewing
“why” as challenging authority but rather a reflection of their
higher education as “thinking”
Marines61 may be the first step in a leader’s ability to apply
transformational leadership in
bridging the communications barrier with Millennials. Understanding
the tendency of
Millennials to search for efficient solutions as being adaptive
rather than perceiving it as being
lazy may empower them to perform more creatively. By empathizing
with their unrealistic
expectation as a form of optimism, a transformational leader may
motivate Millennials to work
harder for the unit by guiding them towards more realistic
approaches.
Conclusion
It is inevitable that Marines of the millennial generation will one
day make up the senior
leadership of the Corps. According to the 2015 Marine Corps
almanac, Millennials make up
86% of the active duty enlisted force and 40% of the active duty
officer corps.62 Like the
Boomers and Xers preceding them, they have their own unique
characteristics, including their
strengths and weaknesses. They have been perceived negatively by
the previous generations as
lazy, spoiled, unrealistic, and disrespectful of authority.63 These
perceptions may be the result of
the different circumstances and environments under which each
generation was raised.
With the proper leadership, harnessing Millennials’ qualities can
build an effective and
committed workforce for the Marine Corps. Achieving this goal
requires understanding this
generation’s unique characteristics and adapting a leadership style
to better engage it rather than
stifle its natural talents. By employing the elements of
transformational leadership, Marine
17
leaders have unlimited opportunities to instill the values of
honor, courage, and commitment
within Millennials and make them the Marines the Corps and nation
needs them to be. Marine
leaders should ensure those in command positions at all levels are
trained to maintain a delicate
balance between empowering Millennials and providing them with
direction, discipline, and
cohesion to act with the right sense of mission.64
18
Notes
1. Carol Axten, “Millennials at Work, the Advice of Great Leaders,”
Defense AT&L, Mar-Apr
2015.
2. Fu Wei’en, and Nah Jinping, “Understanding the Millennial
Generation: Developing a More
Effective workforce for the Future SAF,” Pointer, Journal of the
Singapore Armed Forces,
October, 2013, 1
3. Jessica Brack, Maximizing Millennials in the Workplace (UNC
Kenan-Flagler Business
School 2012), 2.
4. Ibid, 3-4.
5. Wei’en, Understanding the Millennial Generation, 1.
6. Peter G. Northouse, Leadership, Theory and Practice (United
States: SAGE Publications,
2016), 162.
7. Ibid., 161.
8. Bernard M. Bass, and Ronald E. Riggio, Transformational
Leadership, Second Edition
(Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006), 36.
9. Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak, Generations at
Work, Managing the Clash of
Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace (United
States: Performance Research
Associates, Inc., 2000), book flap. 10. Ibid., 3.
11. John R. Grubbs, Surviving the Talent Exodus, Navigate the
Perfect Storm for Generational
Change in the Workplace (United States: Parcam Press, 2012),
20.
12. Sally Kane, “Baby Boomers,”
http://legalcareers.about.com/od/practicetips/a/Babyboomers.htm
14. Zemke, Generations at Work, 3.
15. http://www.jenx67.com/who-is-generation-x
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
20. Zemke, Generations at Work, 3.
21. Jean M. Twenge, Generation Me, Why Today’s Young Americans are
More Confident,
Assertive, Entitled-and More Miserable than Ever Before (New York,
NY 10020: Simon &
Schuster, Inc., 2006), 6.
http://www.generationsatwork.com/articles/millenials.htm
27. Ibid, 11.
28. Ibid, 25.
29. Ibid, 13.
30. Ron Prindle, “The Millennial Generation in the Military:
Contemporary Challenges in
Communication and the Case for Servant Leadership” International
Journal of Humanities and
Social Science 1, no. 10 (August 2011): 113.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
35. Dr. Cossin Didier & Dr. Jose Caballero, “Transformational
Leadership, Background
Literature Review,” June, 2013, 6.
36. Bass, Transformational Leadership, 36.
37. Brig Gen John E. Michel, USAF (ret), “Commentary: 4 No-Fail
Traits of Exceptional
Leaders,” Military Times, February, 2015.
38. John J. Sosik, Leading with Character, Stories of Valor and
Virtue and the Principles They
Teach, Second Edition (United States: Information Age Publishing,
Inc., 2015), 28.
39. N. Nayab, (Characteristics of Transformational Leadership, May,
2010),
http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/71743.aspx
42. Ibid., 37.
44. Ibid.
46. Nayab.
48. Bass, Transformational Leadership, 37.
49. Axten, Millennials at Work.
50. Ibid.
52. Bass, Transformational Leadership, 37.
53. Axten, Millennials at Work.
54. Ibid.
55. Darcie Cunningham, “Millennials Bring a New Mentality: Does it
Fit?” Proceedings, 2014.
56. Bass, Transformational Leadership, 3.
57.
www.mc.edu/rotc/files/1013/1471/9570/MSL_202_L09a_Transformational_Leadership.
58. J.E. Lackey, G. Kamena, & P. Calvert, “Millennials and
Transformational Leaders: A
winning Team for the Future – Part 2.” Fires, 2011, 38-41.
59. Wei’en, Understanding the Millennial Generation, 7.
60. Axten, Millennials at Work.
61. Wei’en, Understanding the Millennial Generation, 7.
62. https://marinecorpsconceptsandprograms.com/almanac
64. Ibid.